Rangers bounced by red-hot APIA
APIA Leichhardt have defeated Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 2-0 at Lambert Park to remain undefeated in the National Premier League NSW Men’s, picking up their third victory in a row.
APIA began their first game without star striker Jason Romero, who secured a move to A-League Men side Macarthur FC on the back of a stunning start to the campaign – in his only NPL NSW Men match at Lambert Park this season, he netted four goals.
Mt Druitt had the first chance of the game, as a headered wide off a cross from a deep set piece went wide of the inside post.
The aerial effort remained the only shot of the match in the first 15 minutes, as APIA looked to adapt to their final third play without Romero, as they kept possession well.
In the 16th minute, Diego Celis, who had replaced Romero as a centre forward, drove in a dangerous cross towards the far post, and it just escaped the grasp of Rory Jordan rushing in from the left flank.
Six minutes later, Celis saw a stunning effort go just over the bar – he picked up the ball just outside the box and unleashed a stunning diagonal shot that narrowly evaded the top right corner.
Multiple positive moments for APIA came as a result of Sean Symons’ ability to progress the ball from defence; in the 26th minute, a brilliant, straight through ball found Jordan in behind on transition, but the winger was blocked after cutting inside onto his right foot.
In the 35th minute, a good passing move from APIA saw a clever ball from Symons found a gap in behind Mt Druitt’s five-man defence.
The home side took two shots, but both were blocked well.
However, Mt Druitt couldn’t withstand the pressure, and off the resulting corner, APIA opened the scoring.
The ball looped over everyone in the middle and found Dakota Askew, who had ghosted in at the back post.
The left-back took a touch to settle himself before powering an emphatic effort into the back of the net to give APIA the advantage.
In additional time of the first half, APIA almost doubled their advantage on another set piece, with Askew once again at the heart.
After the original effort was cleared, the left-back struck in a fizzing shot, which was redirected narrowly over the bar by Celis from inside the box.
In the 56th minute, APIA doubled their advantage with a scintillating counterattack.
Jack Stewart took a well measured touch to breeze past his opponent before cutting inside into a central position against a retreating Mt Druitt defence.
He then played a smart pass out wide to Celis, who cut inside and finished emphatically into the bottom right corner.
Four minutes later APIA had a shot cleared off the line, as their threat on set pieces remained strong.
APIA’s domination remained strong as they looked to find a third, with Franco Farinella forcing a strong save from Dylan Niski off a powerful low effort from outside the box in the 61st minute.
The home side continued to create chances, as a shot from Jack Armson in the 67th minute was dragged just wide of the post.
In the 76th minute, Mt Druitt went close to halving the deficit, as Cooper Coskerie curled a freekick just wide of the top left-hand corner.
Eleven minutes later, APIA thought they had added a third after Farinella tapped home a pass from Alex Denmead, but he was offside.
APIA went close once again in the 90th minute, as Alex Denmead hit the crossbar with a good effort after being slipped in by Jordan.
The striker hit the crossbar once again two minutes later and was unlucky not to find himself on the scoresheet.
Mt Druitt coach Stewart Montgomery was disappointed in his side’s performance as they lost their third game of the 2023 season.
“It was a bit of a strange one, we never really got in the game.
“I think we were more focused on our defensive shape that we didn’t play, and the two goals they scored were defensive errors; one from a corner and the other from letting the guy receive and turn with the ball in the middle of the park.
“At the end of the day, that’s the difference between the two sides, we’ve got to be better in those individual moments to not put us in that position.”
Winning APIA coach Franco Parisi was his usual measured self-post game.
“The focus tonight was three points and to not concede any goals, so from that perspective it was a perfect result.
“I was very happy with the work we put in, we knew it was going to be a tough game, Mt Druitt was prepared and we needed to break them down so we found two moments for that.
“It may have been more, but it was a good workout, a good win and we’re ready for next week to continue this form.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt 2 (Askew 36’, Celis 56’)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 0
Saturday 25 February, 2023
Lambert Park
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Nick Gela and Aaron Bloch
Fourth Official: Blake Sanchez-Cruz
APIA Leichhardt: 1. Ivan Necevski (GK), 7. Jack Stewart (30. Alex Denmead 82’), 8. Diego Celis (25. Aedon Kyra 78’), 14. Jack Armson, 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 17. Rory Jordan, 18. Adrian Ucchino (C), 19. Fabian Monge (98. Franco Farinella 42’), 23. Dakota Askew, 38. Yianni Nicolaou
Substitutes Not Used: 3. Paul Galimi, 6. Anthony Sparacino, 42. Anthony Bouzanis (GK)
Yellow Cards: Askew 24’
Red Cards:
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 3. Nikola Djordjevic, 4. Cooper Coskerie, 5. Jacob Esposito (12. Will Harvey 73’), 6. Jared Macerola (15. Anthony Gallo 65’), 7. Nikola Skataric (19. Abdelelah Faisal 73’), 9. James Demetriou (27. Stefan Nikolic 57’), 11. Anthony Frangie (10. Kotaro Katsuta 65’), 20. Dylan Niski, 21. Tarek Elrich (C), 22. Rhett Desilva, 23. Daniel Dias
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Robert Fanella,
Yellow Cards: Dias 33’, Macerole 43’
Red Cards:
Player Ratings:
3 – Jack Stewart (APIA)
2 – Sean Symons (APIA)
1 – Diego Celis (APIA)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
